Once again, Rukia found herself as a helpless infant, wailing at the top of her tiny lungs. Yet Hisana continued to fade into the black void, disappearing entirely just moments later. Still, the infant cried, cried for the loss of her sister, cried for her own fate, her own loneliness.
"Ssshh, it's okay, Mommy is here." A voice suddenly broke through the abyss, soothing and gentle.
The infant found herself lifted up, held against the tall body that presumably belonged to the same person as the voice. Rukia did not know to whom it belonged, but it was so calming and comforting that the baby found her tears dissipating. As she cuddled against the soothing warmth, her worries and doubts seemed to fade. She had so many things she wanted to say, yet her infantile mouth could only form one word.
"Mama…"
Rukia opened her eyes immediately, the dream still fresh in her mind. It was the same dream as before, yet now punctuated with an addition at the end, an addition that Rukia did not know what to make of. Thinking about it gave her an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach; not uncomfortable, just…odd.
The morning sun shimmered through the window, the amount of light telling her that it was a bit earlier than she usually awoke. She sighed as she felt the pacifier between her lips, but did not spit it out. She figured that if she fell back asleep, she would rather not end up sucking on her thumb, leaving the digit sticky and drool-covered.
As she rolled back over to try and sleep again, she recognized that the crib was missing one of its occupants. Chappy was cuddled under one of her arms but Orihime was nowhere to be found.
"Come now, Orihime, arms up." As if on cue, she heard the voice of Retsu giving a command to Orihime.
Turning back over in the crib, Rukia saw the two of them standing. Instead of speaking u, Rukia decided to watch to see what was happening. Orihime complied with the command and held her arms up. As Rukia watched, the woman unsnapped the crotch of the onesie and began to tug it up and over Orihime's head. Normally, Rukia would turn to give her friend some privacy, but as her back was to her, it was unnecessary.
"U-umm…I have to go to the bathroom…" Orihime mumbled.
"Well go ahead, then. No need to waste a perfectly good diaper." Retsu responded, a gentle smile on her face.
Even facing her back, Rukia could tell the girl was blushing. A blush that deepened moments later as Rukia watched the padding begin to sag between the girl's legs, the bunny prints around it fading away.
"Is that all? No other bathroom needs to attend to?" Retsu asked.
"No!" Orihime quickly squeaked, mortified of the thought.
Instead of lifting the girl onto the changing table, Rukia watched, confused, as she just undid each of the diaper tapes and let the sodden garment fall to the floor. Despite what she felt she should do for her friend's sake, Rukia could not look away, noticing that Orihime's behind was just the slightest bit pink from the lingering spanking. Orihime stood still while Unohana wiped her down. While Rukia wondered how Retsu planned on powdering the girl while she was standing, her question was already being answered as she saw Orihime stepping into something that Retsu was holding down near her legs. The woman tugged the garment into place, but Rukia noticed that they were not panties, but one of the pull-up medical briefs she had worn when she first woke up in the woman's home. Yet, compared to her own thick, infantile diaper, it might as well have been panties. A diaper that she was annoyed, but sadly not surprised, to find was wet. She hoped it happened in her sleep and she just did not notice it until now, but considering it was still warm, it easily could have occurred while she watched the spectacle.
"I did laundry after you girls went to bed last night, so do not worry." Rukia looked back over to see Orihime being helped into the same half pants that she wore when she arrived to babysit. Next came the black bra as well, secured into place and still sizable enough to make the diapered Shinigami jealous. It did not take a lot of thought to guess what came next, and sure enough, the girl's shirts were pulled over her head and into place.
"There you go, all done." Retsu spoke, looking over the outfit.
"Th-thank you." Orihime quietly responded.
"You are welcome." Came the quick response, "I folded your underwear and placed them in your bag. I do not want you changing until you get home, however."
"Oh, um, o-okay…" Orihime mumbled, having no plans whatsoever to change her underwear outside the privacy of Unohana's or her own home.
"Are you sure you do not want me to escort you to the Senkaimon, at least?" The woman asked.
"No no, I'll be fine, thanks." Orihime responded, "Besides, you should be here in case Rukia wakes up."
"If that is your decision, Miss Inoue." The Captain said as she handed the girl the purse she had arrived with.
Just hearing her be called Miss Inoue by the woman instead of her first name, cemented what was happening as far as Rukia was concerned. No longer was Orihime her peer as deigned by Retsu, she was now back to the higher status she was before she had got in trouble, free to babysit whenever she was needed.
"Umm, thanks for having me…I think?" Orihime was not sure the proper etiquette for a departure under these circumstances, but it seemed necessary to thank someone who gave you food and a place to stay for a night.
"You are more than welcome." Unohana responded, sporting a smile that told Orihime that she had made the right decision. "But there is no need to be so hasty. I may not be escorting you to the Senkaimon, but I can at least see you out the front door."
"Oh, right, of course." The girl said, heading for the door. Before stepping out, she stopped for a moment to turn to look at Rukia, causing the Shinigami to immediately close her eyes, using her position on her side to pretend to still be asleep. With her eyes closed, Rukia was unable to see her smile before turning to head out of the nursery.
With the sounds of the two walking away from the room, Rukia opened her eyes and sat up. Emotions spread through her mind; jealousy, sadness, even relief. She was glad that her friend had been able to go back to her adult life, but also sad that she was gone.
"Ah, you're up." Retsu said, standing in the door jamb.
"Umm, where's Orihime?" Rukia asked. She knew the answer, but she would not have if she were asleep as she had pretended.
"I allowed her to go home." Came the answer, simple and brief.
"But…why does she get to go home after half a day of punishment, while I've been here for a few weeks!?" Rukia had no idea where to start with comments and questions, so she decided to start with what Retsu would expect of her.
"Well first of all, she has school to attend." Unohana began, lowering the side of the crib. "I cannot exactly call her school and tell them that she will not be attending for the near future. Whereas I can quite easily get you a temporary exemption from duty from Juushiro, which I did.
"E-even so, I wouldn't think you'd let that stop you…" Rukia mumbled as she was lifted out of the crib.
"It did not." The woman quickly and calmly stated, "Her actions, while worthy of punishment, pale compared to yours. You could have died from overexerting yourself as you did." She chided, laying Rukia on the changing table. Normally, the girl would be annoyed that her caretaker did not even have to check to see if she needed a change—while also being annoyed if a check had been performed—but she was too concerned with having her questions answered. "With her actions and dialogue to you yesterday, I fully believe she understands what she did wrong and now knows better."
"And you don't think I understand not to overexert myself?" Rukia questioned as her onesie was unsnapped and tugged over her head.
"You may say that you know better, but just the fact that you compared your misdeed to Miss Inoue's shows that you do not comprehend the magnitude of what you did, the way your death would affect everyone and make loved ones like Miss Inoue so distraught." Rukia stayed quiet after that scolding, no rebuttal or comeback able to fend off that logic.
"Besides, you are here to be trained in the healing artes." Retsu continued, tearing off the tapes of the used diaper. "Even if a mortal could use Kido, there is nothing I could teach Miss Inoue about healing."
Rukia once more stayed quiet, not even so much as blushing as she wiped clean. However, she could not hold back her emotions any longer, as much as she wanted to.
"She didn't say goodbye…" Rukia mumbled.
"Hmm, what was that, dear?"
"She left without saying goodbye. Why wouldn't she say goodbye to me?" Rukia repeated louder.
"Perhaps the same reason you didn't say goodbye to her despite watching the whole time." Rukia fidgeted a bit; of course Retsu had noticed, it seemed impossible to get something past her.
"Silence made the departure easier for the both of you." The woman continued, spreading baby powder around the girl's skin, "If either of you had said goodbye, she be tempted to stay just to be closer to you. But since you both knew she had a life in the World of the Living that would not wait for her, you both did what had to be done to make it as easy as possible."
"I guess…" Rukia mumbled, unable to think of a single counterargument to her logic.
"Besides, I am sure I will need a babysitter again eventually, anyway." Unohana said as she slid a fresh diaper under the girl's behind.
With her padding in place, Retsu sat her up on the changing table and began to help her into the outfit she had chosen. Rukia was not exactly the most helpful during this task, but she also was not actively impeding the progress of getting changed. Soon enough, though, Retsu had her in a new outfit, pale violet shortalls speckled with small snowflake designs, and a light blue shirt underneath.
"Aww, so cute." Retsu cooed, enjoying her own outfit choice.
"Uh-huh…" Rukia absentmindedly responded, looking down at the floor.
Unohana frowned, putting her finger to her chin as she began to think. "Hmm, you know what this calls for? I was saving this treat for when you progressed further in your training, but I suppose you have earned this?"
"Huh?" Rukia looked up as she grew curious.
"I cannot just tell you, that would ruin the surprise!" Retsu exclaimed, patting the girl on the head, "I must make a few preparations, honey, so stay here for a few minutes, okay?"
Rukia slowly nodded, confused but also intrigued. Turning back to the dresser, Retsu reached into a different drawer and pulled out a familiar black and white folded bundle.
"Here, put on your Shihakusho while you are waiting."
"Umm, okay…" Rukia said, reaching for one of the straps of her shortalls.
"No, no, put your Shihakusho on over your current outfit, silly." Unohana said as if it should have been obvious.
As Retsu steped out of the nursery, Rukia began to dress in her Shinigami uniform. She found herself fumbling with getting her more complicated clothing on properly, assuming that the shortalls were just somehow making her task more difficult.
It took a bit longer than she felt it should have, but eventually her outfit was on and properly in place, waiting somewhat impatiently for her caretaker to return. It took several minutes, but the woman finally made her appearance again, carrying Rukia's diaper bag, as well as some sort of basket.
"Are you ready, dear?" Unohana asked, looking over the job she did dressing herself.
"Umm, I think so?" With no way of knowing what she was preparing for, she could only answer in a vague, noncommittal way.
Retsu smiled and headed over to the changing table, opening the cupboard. Rukia fidgeted in place a bit as she watched the woman grab multiple diapers, a package of wipes and a canister of baby powder, placing them all in the diaper bag.
"Well, if you say you are ready, then who am I to argue?" Unohana said almost teasingly, reaching over to poke the girl on the lips.
Or she would have, had her finger not been blocked by the plastic knob on the front of the pacifier's mouthguard. The woman smiled as the smaller Shinigami's eyes widened with fearful recognition, spitting it out nearly automatically. She had woken up with it in her mouth and completely forgotten about it with all that had happened. She had even managed to speak coherently enough around it without noticing. The woman had expected that reaction, grabbing the soother out of the air and placing it in a small, plastic case after using a few tissues to wipe it down. The case was placed in the diaper bag, which she slung over her shoulder, using that same arm to carry the basket.
"Let's head out, the sun will not stay out forever." Retsu said, moving towards the door.
Rukia began to follow, but stopped as something caught her eye. Chappy was lying in the crib, plastic eyes looking right at Rukia. She hesitated, but quickly went to the crib and grabbed the stuffed rabbit, rushing back over to her caretaker's side.
Rukia was unsure where they were headed, but from the moment they stepped outside, it certainly was not the training facility, taking the opposite direction from their usual path. She clutched her tummy tightly as they walked; no matter how many times they had walked to the facility, she was always paranoid that the few Shinigami they passed would be able to somehow know that she was wearing childish clothes and a diaper under her Shinigami uniform. Especially today, since she was carrying Chappy with her. Her love of bunnies and certain childish things was in no way unknown, but she did not male a point of carrying a stuffed animal around with her, either.
"Excuse me, Captain Unohana!" A voice behind them shouted.
"Hmm? Seventh Seat Shuuu Boufuuu, what is it?" The woman spoke as she turned to face the man.
"I'm sorry to bother you and Lieutenant Kuchiki, but Lieutenant Kotetsu asked to speak to you." The teal-haired man said.
"I see, did she mention the reason?"
"No, ma'am."
"Well it is on the way, so I suppose a small detour is alright." She replied, "Thank you, Shuuu, you are dismissed."
"Thank you. Good day Captain Unohana…and you as well, Lieutenant Kuchiki." Fuuu said, giving a bow before he left.
"Let's not keep Isane waiting now, dear." Retsu turned and began to walk once more.
While Rukia did not know where their final destination was, their current detour was supposed to be "on the way there", yet it was further from Unohana's home than the training facility was, implying that it was quite the way's away.
After walking for what seemed like a long time, Unohana stopped them in front of a nondescript building. Rukia assumed that was the location of their detour, one that was making her increasingly nervous. There was no reason to assume that Isane would be able to detect what was under her Shihakusho, and yet she could only focus on that infinitesimal possibility as they walked inside.
As they entered, Rukia realized what the building was: it was Unohana's alternate office. Each of the thirteen Captains had a secondary office away from the Division Headquarters. It was useful for when the Captain or one of their trusted subordinates wanted to do some work away from the hustle and bustle of the Division HQ and also as a safer location to store important documents in case the HQ was ransacked by an enemy force. That certainly explained why the building was so plain and ordinary.
As they stepped inside, they were greeted by an empty room. There were some sounds coming from upstairs where the actual office was, so they headed up. Sure enough, Isane was sitting at the desk filing paperwork. She did not seem to notice the two, at least until Retsu cleared her throat gently to let their presence be known. The tall woman nearly jumped in her chair, startled by the sudden voices.
Isane was quite unlike her sister, who Rukia was all too familiar with. While Kiyone was short and hyperactive, Isane was tall and reserved, almost awkward when it came to any social situations. Her short, silver hair seemed a bit more unkempt than usual as she stood up to greet the two visitors.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't see you there." She apologized, adjusting her Shihakusho.
"Do not worry about it." Retsu replied, "I trust things are going well?"
"Yes, we have things under control in your temporary absence." Isane replied, her eyes drifting over to Rukia. "Oh, Lieutenant Kuchiki, I did not notice you there. I trust you're enjoying your time as a pupil of the Captain."
"Uhh, yeah, I'm learning a lot…" Rukia could almost swear she could hear a hint of annoyance in the woman's voice.
"I do not mean to sound impatient, but we were told that you wanted to see me?" Unohana interrupted.
"Oh, right, sorry, ma'am, there's just some documents I am not authorized to sign in your stead, as well as one that there's an issue with."
Rukia sighed and sat on one of the chairs against the wall, knowing how long this was going to take.
"Show me this troublesome document first." Retsu said, glancing over to Rukia as she sighed.
"Ah, right, well in this document you signed to increase the patrols threefold, but I assume that's just a mistake and you meant to increase the patrols by three Shinigami each."
"While I understand why you would think so and commend your diligence in going through this paperwork, I did indeed mean a threefold increase."
"That…seems extreme and unwarranted…and in that case, you did not fill out the required reasoning on the form." Isane pointed to the large blank area on the bottom of the document.
"You will just have to trust me when I say it is necessary. Do not worry about the reasoning." Retsu responded.
"Even so…the reasoning is required for Logistics to approve and process it, especially for such a drastic increase." The tall woman explained.
"Isane, I said not to worry." Unohana rebutted, "I guarantee you that Logistics and Central 46 will both accept the request as it is without question. As your Captain, I am telling you not to worry about it anymore."
"…Yes, ma'am." Isane replied, quickly moving the document to the side. "Now, I just need some signatures on these." She placed multiple thick folders of documents onto the desk.
Rukia waited impatiently as documents were signed and collated and other boring things were done to them. Usually, intradivisional affairs were not this boring to her—though they were certainly no party—but this was especially excruciating. Rukia found her thoughts drifting, boredom overtaking her. She thought back to the educational cartoon she watched the previous night, humming the theme song as she idly kicked her legs.
Almost an hour had passed since they arrived and still the two were not finished working, the petite Shinigami finding herself quickly running out of songs to hum. Rukia suddenly stopped humming as a look of relief washed over her face. By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late. She could feel her diaper grow warm and damp beneath her clothing, fidgeting a bit in her seat.
Another hour or so passed as she waited, her soaked padding growing more and more clammy as it cooled. She glanced back over at the desk and saw that Isane was placing the last of the large folders in front of her Captain.
"Okay, this is the last one." The silver haired woman said as she opened the folder, "Oh no, this isn't the right one. The covers must have gotten swapped accidentally." Isane sat up and headed for the door, folder in arm. "I am sorry, Captain. It'll just be a moment while I run down to the basement and grab the right one."
Retsu merely nodded and smiled, giving her subordinate implicit permission to leave. Once Isane was out of the office, Retsu closed the door and turned to face Rukia.
"Oh, Rukia…already?" The woman asked rhetorically, "I suppose it is my fault for giving you a bottle of juice just before bed last night."
"I-I didn't mean to! It's just…we've been here forever!" Rukia whined, annoyed, but not surprised, that the woman had been able to deduce her accident.
"Yes, yes, I suppose…Come now, let's get you changed." Unohana said, picking the diaper bag up.
"What!?" Rukia nearly shouted, "But Isane…"
"You have been in that diaper long enough. It may be able to hold another full wetting or two, but I do not want you risking a rash by waiting until we get all the way to our destination." The woman replied, "Besides, I have been in that basement. It will take awhile to search through the necessary files."
"But still!" The petite Shinigami pleaded, "…No!" She even stomped her foot like a child throwing a tantrum.
"You have two options: you can either cooperate and get changed quickly, or you can be a brat, get a spanking for your troubles and the get a change anyway. It seems like the latter might take some time…"
Rukia hesitated for a moment before standing up out of her chair. "Fine! Just…hurry up!"
While the woman was not exactly dawdling, Rukia knew that she should be able to do it faster, easily. By the time that Unohana had rolled out a cloth changing mat, Rukia had already removed her Shihakusho and was shimmying out of her shortalls. She hustled over to the mat and lied down, inadvertently tapping her foot as she waited. True to her word, Retsu was moving faster than usual, though not as much as Rukia would have liked.
She was nude and wiped clean within a minute, the old diaper still opened beneath her bottom. Retsu turned to grab the baby powder and opened the canister. While Rukia was afraid that the powder's aroma would linger and be noticeable to Isane, she could not focus on that scenario when she was so fearful of another, albeit unlikely, one.
Despite what Unohana had assured her, her heart nearly stopped as she heard the mechanics of the doorknob click. Many thoughts for what to do between then and the door opening came to mind: covering her privates with her hand, grabbing her clothes and incriminating evidence and hiding under the desk, pulling the mat out from under her and using it to cover her lower half, even tackling Isane and knocking her unconscious before she even has a chance to see anything. And yet, despite her myriad of options, Rukia could not so much as flinch, her body frozen in fear as the door began its seemingly eternal opening.
"My mistake, Captain. The documents we needed were in the second half of this folder, so…" Isane's words died on her tongue as she saw the scene in front of her: Lieutenant Kuchiki was nude from the waste down, lying on a clearly stained and used diaper, with the Captain holding a bottle of talcum powder above her skin.
Unohana pursed her lips the slightest bit as Isane walked in, but did not so much as hesitate to begin spreading baby powder on Rukia's skin.
"I-I…umm…" Words utterly failed Isane, thinking she fell on the way down the stairs and was hallucinating.
"It is impolite to gawk, Isane." Retsu simply said, "For the duration of her training, Rukia is being made to wear protection. It is nothing to be ashamed of, nor does it signal a lack of bodily control."
Figuring she could save a small scrap of dignity if she could not see the spotlight focused on her, Rukia held her hands over her eyes. She was not even sure if it was better or worse that Retsu told the Lieutenant that the diapers were not medically necessary. While it would still be embarrassing, it would at least be understandable and something that would make a person a jerk for making fun of. And as the Lieutenant of the medical division, Isane was probably more sympathetic about medical issues such as that. Retsu had not even said they were a punishment, just "part of her training" which could give Isane any number of impressions, seemingly none of them good.
"I-I see…" Isane mumbled, her face nearly as red as the one having her diaper changed. "I will…give you two some privacy, then…"
"Isane, since you are here," Retsu began, as if she did not hear her Lieutenant, "Please get a new diaper out of the bad. In my haste, I forgot to grab one."
"Oh, uh, sure…" Isane hesitantly replied.
The tall woman slowly walked over and reached into the bag, pulling out a thick diaper. She gawked at its thickness and childish design, unable to notice those attributes on the one that had been open below Rukia. She quickly cleared her throat and headed over to her Captain, handing her the crinkling garment.
"Thank you, Isane."
As much as Rukia hated to admit it, the diaper being clad around her waist was less embarrassing than being nude, at least when the other people knew about the diapers.
"There you go, dear." Retsu stated, patting the front of the garment as she stood up. "Now why don't you get dressed while we finish the last of the paperwork?"
Unohana threw the used padding in the trash can and headed back over to the desk. Isane quickly followed, opening the folder to the necessary documents.
Despite how much noise her diaper made while doing so, Rukia got dressed as fast as possible, not wanting to have her unique underwear or childish outfit exposed for any longer than they already had been. While she was changing, she saw Isane's various quick glances over towards her, Rukia blushing a bit more each time.
"If that is all, we will take our leave now." Retsu said as she signed the last form.
"Oh, of course. Thank you for your time, Captain." Isane replied, taking one last quick peek at Rukia, who was adjusting her Shihakusho.
The Captain rolled the changing mat off the floor and secured it in the bag. She looked over Rukia's job dressing herself and, apparently satisfied, headed towards the door.
"Oh, and Isane, what you saw today is a private matter." Retsu began, not even turning to face her Lieutenant, "I trust not a single soul will hear of this…"
"O-of course, Captain, I wouldn't dream of it." Isane fearfully mumbled, the threatening nature imbued in the Captain's inflection terrifying enough to almost make her need one of those diapers at the moment.
"Very good. Come on, dear." Unohana gestured for Rukia, who quickly hustled to her side, trying not to make eye contact with Isane.
Rukia had a lot she wanted to say to the woman, but managed to wait until they were outside and she had been able to make sure that there was no one else around.
"How could you let that happen!?" Rukia nearly whined, "Now Isane knows…"
"Excuse me? You were the one who hesitated, dear." Unohana replied, looking unfazed.
"I hesitated because of the potential for what actually did happen!" Rukia shouted.
"Yes, well, had Isane not made an error, she would have been gone more than long enough to change you."
"But she did make a mistake!" Rukia exclaimed, stomping her foot like a grumpy child.
"Truthfully, she was more than likely going to find out anyway." The woman nonchalantly responded, "I had chosen her as my backup babysitter if Miss Inoue was unavailable. If I had needed her, she would of course have to be made aware of the situation."
"I-I…but…" Rukia stammered, unsure how to respond to this unexpected revelation.
"More importantly, do remember that this is meant to be a reward for you." She began, "Yet you persist in acting like a spoiled brat. Furthermore, it is only by the grace of my own mercy that you are allowed to wear your Shihakusho over your outfit; mercy that is waning as you continue to disrespect me."
"S-sorry…" Rukia squeaked out, all the fight in her fading as she was scared on invoking the Captain's wrath.
Unohana merely nodded at the apology and continued leading the girl towards their destination. They walked in silence for several minutes before Rukia found her voice once more.
"Hey, umm, what…what would you do if you found out that Isane had told someone?" She quietly asked.
"Well, first of all, it's not a matter of 'if I found out', if Isane were to tell a single soul, I would know." She explained, "At that point, it would be insubordination, but worst of all, it would be the infraction of breaking my trust"
"Uh-huh, but what you do to her for those crimes?"
"In this scenario, I would remove her rank and position and send her back to once more being a first year in the Shinigami Academy, having to start from the very beginning." The woman casually said, "And, of course, until the long off day where she once again earned her position of Lieutenant, she would be subjected to the same punishment as you are now. Though, I would be much less…willing to be discreet with her."
Rukia's eyes widened at the explanation. It certainly made her feel even better now that she was sure that Isane would keep the secret to herself. It also terrified her that Retsu would be willing to do something so drastic, even for a breach of trust of that magnitude. She was so lost in thought over the discussion she started that she did not even notice as Retsu took her by the hand as they walked.
Wherever they were headed, it was far from her temporary home. Buildings passed them by, growing smaller and thinner as they left the Seireitei and entered the rundown area known as the Rukongai. Still they walked, seemingly endlessly, further and further away from anywhere Rukia recognized. Until, however, they reached the gate, one of four tremendous doors in the wall encircling the Soul Society, one located in each of the cardinal directions.
"Hello, Captain Unohana, Lieutenant Kuchiki. Going through?" The man behind the booth next to the gate asked.
"Yes, please. We will be out for most of the day." Unohana said.
The man nodded and hit the button on his desk. The earth rumbled as the mechanisms in the enormous door roared to life. Slowly but surely, the door opened upwards, much more than the couple meters that would be necessary to let them through. The gate finally stopped at half its height, loudly creaking to a halt.
As the two stepped through the gate, the door began its descent to its secure position. Outside of the Soul Society was mostly forest and clearings, other than a few scant buildings here and there belonging to those that had forsaken the Soul Society without being branded as treasonous.
Rukia sighed in relief as they left the Soul Society, knowing that there was almost zero chance of running into anyone, and even less of any of the hypothetical people noticing and recognizing the widened gait her diaper caused.
Through trees and clearings and down old paths, they continued walking, causing Rukia to grow more and more curious as to where they could possibly be going. She could not help but feel that this area seemed familiar somehow but considered it was probably just her imagination.
That is, however, until they stepped out of the current bundle of trees and into the next clearing. Spread across the ground were patches of snow, varying in density, growing more and more compact in the distance. Large pillars and swaths of ice were scattered randomly as far as the eye could see in the distance. It was the area she had been training herself in a few weeks ago, the latent spiritual energy imbued in the ice and snow giving it a significant resistance to the warmth of the recent days and even nights. Despite that, it was clear that the weather was starting to take its toll; the snow was patchy as melted in places while the large ice structures were partially collapsing in places and covered in condensation.
As the area came into sight, the woman smiled. She had done this purposefully; even if this outing was supposed to be a reward for Rukia, she had decided to layer it with a stark reminded of why she was being punished in the first place. That certainly fit with the woman's general cunning and duplicity.
While it seemed that Retsu had passed here to make sure that Rukia could take the sight in, after a few moments she began walking to the left, towards where the snow was thinning out. As they were still holding hands, Rukia followed along behind her. After a few minutes, they stopped in a large clearing free of any snow, the edge of the many acres of ice snow a hundred meters or so away.
"This is as good a place as any." Unohana placed the basket on the ground and opened it. From within, she pulled out a folded piece of canvas, white and adorned with flowers. She quickly unfolded it and spread it out on the grass, placing the basket on top. Rukia looked at the basket and the large tarp and realized what her supposed reward was.
"A picnic?" She asked Retsu.
"Very good, dear." She replied, not at all sarcastically, "Now that we are here, you may remove your Shihakusho." She said it as if Rukia had wanted to before and was just given permission.
"I'd rather just-" She began, before stopping when she saw the way the woman looked at her.
With a sigh and a bit of trepidation, Rukia began stripping her uniform off, leaving her in the childish clothing.
"Good girl." Retsu said, "Well, our little detail took longer than expected; it's already time for lunch!"
From inside the basket, the woman pulled out multiple closed containers of food, setting them on the basket. Rice balls, green pepper maki, pickles, sesame noodles and even a few Japanese egg salad sandwiches, all food that Rukia enjoyed on some level, and much more of a meal than the applesauce and carrots and similar simple foods she had been fed recently.
While Unohana did not spare the bib, Rukia was allowed autonomy to feed herself, at least for the simple finger foods in the meal. The sesame noodles and green pepper maki strips were fed to her the same way that she had grown used to, though with chopsticks instead of a spoon. This resulted in a bit more of a mess on her bib than had been expected, though how much of it was purposeful by the one feeding her, she could not discern. Soon her half of the food was gone, a very satisfying meal that would have been nice even if she had not been without such a luxury as of late.
"All done?" Unohana asked.
"Yes, thanks…it was good." Rukia admitted.
"Good!" The Captain seemed genuinely pleased as she used the bib to wipe Rukia's face. "Here, have your bottle while I finish my meal."
Since there was no point in trying to deny her own thirst, Rukia took the bottle of apple juice and began to drink it down. The cool nectar felt nice with the warm sun beating down on her, so she did not mind it as much as she had wanted to. When the bottle was emptied, Rukia placed it on the sheet and waited for Retsu to finish the meal she had delayed to feed Rukia.
"Why don't you go play a bit? I brought some of your toys." She suggested, seeing the look of boredom on Rukia's face.
"Yay…" Came the sarcastic response.
"Do not be like that, dear. It is a beautiful day, enjoy it!" Unohana said as she pulled out a few toys from within the diaper bag.
They were smaller toys, naturally, as space was limited; a doll, a baby rattle and a ball. The doll seemed useless when she had the much preferred Chappy and the rattle held no interest whatsoever. She grabbed the blue rubber ball in both hands and gave it a bounce, satisfied with how high it bounced back up.
"Not on the blanket, dear." Retsu said, "But do not stray too far away from me, either."
With a nod, Rukia walked a bit away from the tarp and into the middle of the clearing. Idly bouncing the ball grew boring quickly, until Rukia got an idea. She threw the ball straight at the ground with all her strength, watching how high it bounced back up. She mentally counted how long it took to come back down and thought of ways to improve on that time. It took fifteen minutes of continual high bounces before a perfect idea came to mind. Once more she threw the ball down but then held her arm out as if aiming at it. Right before it hit its apex, she launched a high speed Hado spell directly at it. It was a concussive blast, perfectly aimed. The ball was shot up higher in the sky, a tiny blue speck against a light blue sky.
"Gotcha!" She boasted, proud of herself.
While her aim was enough to hit the ball, it had been just slightly off enough to cause the ball's parabolic arc to take it a bit away from where she had bounced it, falling against the ground some twenty meters away. She began waddling towards it, but stopped as she felt her diaper begin to grow warm once more. She tried to stop the flow, but she was too late and only managed to slow it down. She sighed at yet another lapse of control on her behalf and resumed her retrieval of the ball, her gait widened a bit more by the swollen padding.
Instead of the ball, however, she only found a heap of deflated rubber, a wide gash ripped through it. The ball seemingly tore either from the rough ground or the attack that she had used to launch it higher.
"Oh well, back to square one." She sighed.
"This is why you are supposed to play nice with your toys, honey." Retsu said, apparently standing right behind her, "Come on, I do not want you wandering too far away from the tarp." She held out her hand for Rukia, who reluctantly took it. The woman walked her back to their camp and surprised her by tugging at the snaps of her shortalls. Rukia knew what was going to be found, but said nothing as her diaper was checked.
"Mmm, as I thought." Unohana said as she stood back up.
Out came the changing mat once more, laid out on the ground next to the tarp. Rukia looked down at it and then back up to Retsu.
"O-out here…in the open?" She nervously questioned.
"Rukia, there is no other soul within miles of here." She began, "And even if there were, this is a large clearing; if they could see you, you would be able to see them. No one is going to see you."
"That's what you said about Isane…"
"…Fair enough." She admitted, "But you are overreacting. I have changed you an uncountable number of times in my home, in which there are any number of persons in closer proximity to you than possible right now."
"W-well, true, but…fine…" Rukia relented, unable to argue the logic. She was still a bit uncomfortable about it, but that was not going to stop her caretaker.
Despite her reservations, the change proceeded as normal, not a single other person to be found.
"There, all set." Unohana said as she helped Rukia back into her shortalls. "Now go play a bit more and then I think you need a short nap."
Not looking forward to that inevitability, Rukia trudged over to the two remaining toys and looked boredly at them. Retsu, seemingly noticing this problem, walked over to the girl.
"Hmm, perhaps we should play a game, then?" She suggested.
"A game? Like what?"
"How about hide and seek?" Retsu proposed, "I will close my eyes and count down from one hundred, while you hide and then I will seek you out."
"Hmm…sure!" Rukia replied, actually finding the idea interesting.
"Just make sure not to go too far from here, okay? Are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm ready to win." Rukia smirked.
"Well, in that case, I will cover my ears as well, so I cannot hear what direction you waddle off in, crinkletush." The woman teased, a small laugh accompanying her words.
"H-hey!" Rukia shouted, not at all liking that new pet-name.
"Well go on now, hide!" Retsu urged, covering her ears and closing her eyes, "One hundred…ninety-nine…"
Wasting no time, Rukia dashed away as fast as her diaper allowed. Across one side of the clearing and into a place where the trees were densely packed together, she looked for a good place to hide.
"Perfect!"
She looked over her choice, a group of trees that were lying on their sides, seemingly knocked over by the wall of ice that had cascaded through this section weeks ago. She slid through an opening between two of the trunks and into the small alcove that created. It was not a large cavity, but with her lithe form, it was enough to not be constricting.
Now it was just a matter of time, waiting until the woman finished counting, began looking and, of course, eventually gave up due to her amazing hiding spot. She sat in her alcove in silence, not moving so much as an inch due to her crinkling outfit. Time seemed to pass slowly, every moment another where she was afraid she would be caught. Suddenly, the sounds of leaves rustling alerted her to a possible intruder to her spot, human or animal. Sure enough, a squirrel poked its head through one of the thin openings that Rukia had cloistered herself in and fittingly squirreled its way inside.
"Hey little guy." Rukia whispered at the small creature.
The squirrel glanced over at her for a moment before scurrying around the small alcove, presumably in search of food.
"Oh, I wonder where Rukia could be…"
Her eyes widened as she heard Retsu's voice not ten meters from the alcove, apparently alerted by the rustling the squirrel was making. She picked up a loose stick and began to prod the rodent's side gingerly. After a few prods, the animal seemingly found food to be too sparse to deal with the annoyance and darted out of the small area.
"Ah, just a squirrel. My mistake." She heard Unohana say, holding in her sigh of relief. "Hmm, these trees are a bit of a hazard, though. I would probably be best if I were to cut them to pieces."
Rukia's eyes widened in fear, afraid that she was about to be sliced to ribbons. Enough so that she quickly squeezed her way out through the opening and into the bright sunlight. Instead of a Captain ready to attack, Rukia saw the woman standing about three meters in front of her, her hands clasped together in front of her stomach under her sleeves, her sheathed zanpakuto completely untouched.
"Found you." Unohana said, smiling at her own gambit.
"…Hey! You tricked me!" Rukia shouted.
"Even if you had not fallen for that, I would have looked in there, anyway. You merely saved me the trouble."
"…It's still not fair…" Rukia mumbled.
"Come now, stop being a grumpybutt, and let us go back so you can start counting." To punctuate her words, the Captain gave her a pat on the padded behind.
"I'll make sure to find you faster than you found me!" Rukia exclaimed, sticking her tongue out to punctuate her own words.
"Heh, yes, well, we will see about that."
Once the two had reached the clearing, Rukia chose a spot and nodded at Retsu. She then closed her eyes, covered her ears and began to count down from one hundred.
"Three…two…one!" With the time complete, Rukia turned and began to think of a strategy to search for her hidden caretaker.
Instead, she was greeted with a sight that thoroughly confused and terrified her: Unohana was about fifteen meters away, enveloped in a golden pillar of energy, looking frustrated, while a mysterious, menacing figure stood near her.
"I believe what comes next…is Cero!" He snarled, holding up his palm.
Rukia could only stare in shock and fear as the golden beam of energy bore down on her.